Railway-frog.



No. 719,571. PATENTED FEB. 3, 1903. E. B. DOUGLASS.

RAILWAY FROG.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 14, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIAS B. DOUGLASS, OF CORTLAND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF FORTY-NINEONE-HUNDREDTHS TO ELLSWORTH JOHNSON, OF SEYMOUR, INDIANA.

RAILWAY-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 719,571, dated February3, 1903.

Application filed March 14,1902. Serial No. 98,210- (No modelfl To allwhom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIAS B. DOUGLASS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cortland, in the county of Jackson and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Froggofwhich the following is a specification.

The leading object of this inv ntion is to dispense with the guard-railsin frog construction, which have always been regarded as a necessity toprevent the car-wheels from leaving the track. These guard-rails are notonly an item of considerable expense, but they are often so carelesslyplaced and maintained that they are of no practical value as a guardagainst the derailment of the wheels.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device that willoperate directly upon the wheel of the car passing over the frog toprevent its displacement, and thereby render superfluous the guard-railat the other or opposite side of the track.

I accomplish the objects of the invention by the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of a portionof the main railway-track with my improved safety-frog applied theretoand set for the main track, and Fig. 2 represents the wing-rails and in-0 tegral shifting and guard bar detached from the parts associated withthem in use.

Like figures of reference indicate like parts throughout both views ofthe drawings.

The main rails 1 and the siding-rails 2 are 3 5 arranged in relation tothe frog in the usual or any approved way. A metal base-plate 3 supportsthe point l of the frog, which is of usual construction and also all ofthe operative parts of my device, whereby in laying a frog it will onlybe necessary to place the plate in proper relation to the rails of themain track and the siding and spike it to the cross-ties 5.

Pivoted at 6, between the inner rails 1 and 2, is the bar 7, the pointof which carries the wing-rails 8 and 9 of the frog. The wing-rails arepreferably made integral with the plate; but they may be separate piecesrigidly secured in any convenient manner. The wingrail 8 is capable of ahorizontal movement between the rail 1 on one side and the lugs 10 and11 from plate 3 on the other. When the wing-rail is against the saidlugs, just sufficient space is provided between said rail and the rail 1to allow the car-wheel flange to pass, and the wing-rail acts as aguard-rail to keep the wheel on the track. The edge of the wing-railadjacent to the rail 1 is in alinement with the edge of the shifting andguard bar 7, and the latter acts as a guard to keep the car-wheel on thetrack when the wheel reaches it. The wing-rail 9 has a like play betweenthe rail 2 and lugs 12 and 13, and the edge of it which is adjacent tothe rail 2 is in alinement with the edge of bar 7, adjacent to rail 2.Between the Wing-rails and the bar 7 are rail-segments 14 and 15, whichtill the gaps in the rails 1 and 2 at each respective shifting of thefrog. The points of the wingrails are kept from raising under pressureap- 7o plied at their opposite ends by the pins 15, which take with asliding fit into openings in the lugs 10 and 12. These wing-rail pointsare rounded on the sides next to the rails, as shown, to guide thecar-wheel flanges into the joints between the wing and main rails. Thebroad end of the bar 7 is likewise rounded at the corners for the samereason. It will thus be seen that whether the car be moving on the maintrack or upon the siding the flanges of the wheels will automaticallyopen the frog in the proper manner to allow the wheels to pass. As themain track will be in more general use than the siding, I provide thespring 17, between the rail 1 and wing-rail 8, to hold the frog in thenormal position shown in the drawings. A pin passing through spring 17holds the latter in proper position. The ends of this pin have the heads19, and springs 20 and 21, between the wing-rails and. said heads, ofless stillness than spring 17, serve as governors.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and wishto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. In a frog todispense with guard-rails, the combination of the stationary frog-point,the main-track rail and siding-track rail 0blique to each other, atapering bar pivoted between said oblique rails, and wing-rails rcorigidly connected with each other and with the pivoted bar, saidtapering bar extending up into contact with the flanges of the car- Iwheels whereby the attached wing-rails are moved.

2. In a frog to dispense with guard-rails, a bar pivoted at one of itsends between the main-track and siding-track rails and having wing-railsconnected rigidly with its free end so as to move therewith, said barextending up into contact with the flanges of the carwheels.

3. In a frog to dispense with guard-rails, a base-plate, a stationaryfrog-point, inside main and siding track rails oblique to each other, atapering bar pivoted between said oblique rails and having wing-railsextending from the point thereof, said bar extending up into contactwith the car-wheel flanges, all of said parts being mounted upon saidbaseplate.

4. In a frog to dispense with guard-rails, a base-plate having lugsprojecting upwardly therefrom, a stationary frog-point, inside main andsiding track rails oblique to each other, a tapering bar pivoted betweensaid oblique rails and having wing-rails extending from the pointthereof and placed between the lugs projecting upwardly from the baseand with the frog-point between them.

5. In a frog to dispense with guard-rails, a base-plate having a doubleseries of lugs projecting upwardly therefrom, a stationary frog-point,inside main and siding track rails oblique to each other, a tapering barpivoted between said oblique rails and having wingrails carried by thepoint thereof, one on either side of the stationary frog-point andbetween the frog-point and the double series of lugs, and pins in thewing-rails passing into holes in the outside lugs to hold down the endsof said wing-rails.

p 6. In a frog to dispense with guard-rails, a base-plate, a stationaryfrog-point, inside main and siding track rails oblique to each other, atapering bar pivoted between said oblique rails and having wing-railsextending from the point thereof, and a spring to hold the wing-railsnormally away from one side of the frog-point.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, atIndianapolis, Indiana, this 24th day of February, A. D. 1902.

ELIAS B. DOUGLASS.

Witnesses:

S. MAHLON UNGER, J. A. MINTURN.

